The TCP/IP protocol, sometimes referred to as the `Internet protocol`, was developed as a standard protocol to allow different types of computers to exchange electronic mail and other files over a network. The network using this protocol is known as the `Internet` and has grown from its beginning when it linked military and educational sites in the USA to become world- wide.
A new IEEE standard referred to as isoEthernet allows up to 96 two way voice channels to be present on a standard 10BaseT Ethernet network without affecting any of the normal ethernet traffic. The isoEthernet technology keeps packet data and realtime information separated so voice and video are unaffected by data traffic and vice versa.
The use of Internet for telephony is known and requires a sound card mounted in a PC (personal computer), a microphone and a pair of speakers connected to the sound card, and a telephony application (software) that recognizes the sound card. Bidirectional voice communication is possible between two telephony applications.
The use of a LAN for telephony is known and requires a telephony application running under WINDOWS on a PC which is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) or an ATM-LAN (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). The user can make and receive telephone calls to/from another PC or the public ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) or mobile networks. Access between a private LAN and a public telephony network is provided by a gateway.